Browsing: Featured

For most of us, Labor Day arrives with all the familiar signs of a Southern September. Football is back, grills are fired up, and summer is beginning—at least according to the calendar—to loosen its grip.

As fall approaches and I prepare to make my annual batch of oyster shell pumpkins, I find myself thinking about where all of this started.

Like most children, I loved making things. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, spending my childhood on the water and making trips out to the barrier islands. I was always collecting shells and other little pieces of the Coast that I could carry home and turn into something new.

There are certain sounds that seem to follow us through our entire lives. For me, one of those is the sound of cicadas.

History is often measured in big moments, but those moments usually begin with one person stepping into a place no one quite like them has occupied before.

Mississippi is celebrating an extraordinary achievement: four women from across the state earned national and international titles at the 2026 International Women of Service and American Women of Service competitions. Together, the delegates captured three International Women of Service titles and one American Women of Service title. Each represented communities across Mississippi while demonstrating a shared commitment to leadership, volunteerism, and service.

Dolly Parton gave the world a lifetime of music, but one of her greatest legacies arrived quietly—in mailboxes belonging to children.

They say two heads are better than one, but for one couple, there is power in numbers. From the meeting at Tougaloo College in the computer lab when checking messages on MySpace to today, both having earned doctoral degrees in education, the two been inseparable and have pushed each other to new heights.

There are certain sounds that belong to fall in Mississippi: marching bands warming up, cowbells ringing, whistles blowing, and a stadium announcer carrying across a cool Friday night.

In Mississippi, food is more than a necessity—it’s culture, memory, and connection all rolled into one. Whether it’s a family gathered around the Sunday dinner table, neighbors sharing a plate of fried catfish, or college students swapping stories over a late-night po-boy, our meals carry meaning. Few restaurants capture that spirit better than Oby’s, a Mississippi-grown favorite with a story that stretches from Pearl Harbor to Starkville.

Fair Park in downtown Tupelo will be filled with food, shopping, entertainment and plenty for children to do on Saturday, Sept. 12, but behind all the fun of the Shepherd’s Center Fall Festival is a mission that reaches far beyond the festival grounds.

Every local café has a story to tell about how it came to be. The Traveler is no different, its name honors the world travels of Walter Anderson. But this quaint space has its own story to tell and provides visitors with a feeling of home. 

Fins may be seen surfacing the waters of Krebs Lake as the 2026 Pascagoula River Paddle Battle celebrates its 10th anniversary.

There is something pretty special about seeing a childhood spark turn into a plan for the future.
For Collin Murphy, that spark happened years ago inside Chevron FABLAB Jackson County.

The streets are Mississippi. The storefronts are Mississippi. The actors are Mississippians. So are the people behind the cameras.

As another football season approaches, there is a growing sense of excitement surrounding Southwest Mississippi Community College as the Bears prepare to build on the foundation established during Head Coach Les George’s first season.

August 29 is a date Ricky Mathews will never forget.
For thousands of Mississippians, it is the same.